Manufacture of cigarettes having tobacco wrappers.



No. 864,949. I PATENTED SEPT. 3, 1907.

. G.P.BUTLER.'

MANUFACTURE OF GIGARETTES HAVING TOBACCO WRAPPBRS.

' APPLIOATION FILED nov. a. 1906.

WITNESSES M 3 INVENTOI? A TTORNE) THE NORRIS PETERS 50., WASHINGTON, n. c,

UNITED STATES GEORGE P. BUTLER,

OF NEW YORK, N Y.

MANUFACTURE OF CIGARETTES HAVING TOBACCO WRAPPERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 3, 1907.

Application filed November 6, 1906. Serial No. 342,170.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE P. BUTLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York .city, New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Manufacture of Cigarettes Having Tobacco Wrappers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to the manufacture of cigarettes having tobacco wrappers, and includes certain novel features hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. In manufacturing cigarettes of this character by machine, according to present practice, it is usual for the filler to be fed to the machine on a belt, then an operator feeds a tobacco leaf under a die in the machine which cuts out of the leaf a rectangular wrapper that is from one half inchto one inch longer than the length which the cigarette is to have when completed, then the wrapper thus cut, is rolled around the filler from two and oneeighth to two and one-quarter times the circumference, and finally the cigarette is cut off to the required size. This method permits the manufacture of but one cigr rette at a time, and also entails the use of more wrapper than is actually needed to incase the cigarette, because the wrapper is cut from one half to one inch longer than the length which the cigarette is to have finally, and this extra quantity of wrapper material cut off from the ends of the cigarettes is not usable as wrapper but is generally employed as scrap. i In width also a considerable quantity of wrapper is employed, it being necessary to roll the wrapper around the filler a number of times, inasmuch as nearly all tobacco leaf has imperfections breaks or perforations which are covered up by the superposed layers. If these perforations were not closed, the smoker, would draw air therethrough instead of drawing smoke from the lighted end of the cigarette.

The method of making cigarettes with tobacco wrappers by hand consists in first preparing the filler which is then inclosed in a binder whereby the bunch is formed, placing .the bunch in a suitable mold to set and then inclosing the bunch in a wrapper.

The methods of manufacture above outlined are unsatisfactory in several respects. Owing to the possibility of making but one cigarette at a time the output of a machine or operator in a given time is considerably limited, thus naturally making the cost of the cigarettes greater than if a larger number could be manufactured in the same space of time. Again, the fact that more leaf is used as wrapper, than is actually required for this purpose, is also a material item of expense. The necessity, also, of making a bunch when the cigarettes are produced by hand adds to the cost of manufacture. I propose, by the use of my invention to avoid the disadvantages above pointed out, and to improve the manufacture of cigarettes with tobacco wrappers in the several particulars hereinafter referred to.

One of the objects of my invention is to greatly increase the number of cigarettes with tobacco wrappers which may be manufactured within a given space of time. This object is accomplished by overcoming the continuous method, that is to say, a method whereby a long cigarette is first made which is then cut into the desired lengths, the several steps of this method being preferably performed by machine.

Another object of the invention is to effect a material saving in the quantity of leaf employed as wrapper for the cigarettes. I save in the length of the wrapper by using just the length required to envelop the long cigarette and thus prevent the waste which results when the ends of the cigarettes are cut off as is now done, and I also save in the width of wrapper by inclosing the filler in but a single layer of leaf instead of wrapping the leaf about the filler several times as heretofore customary.

A further object of the invention is to effectually prevent any imperfections, perforations or breaks that may be present in the leaf, from spoiling the manufactured cigarette and it is also my object to give the cigarettes a smooth appearance when completed.

In broad terms my invention consists in employing a strip or length of paper as a foundation or reinforcement for tobacco leaves used as a wrapper, closing this reinforced wrapper about the filler to form a long eigarette having a tobacco wrapper, and cutting this long cigarette into the lengths desired.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein,

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a single tobacco leaf; Fig. 2 is a similar view, showing the leaf divided into halves by the removal of the stem; Fig. 3 is a view representing a series of tobacco leaves or strips joined end to end; Fig. 4 is a view illustrating a series of tobacco leaves or strips reinforced by a paper length; and 'Fig. 5 is a view illustrating a reinforced tobacco wrapper of a single cigarette.

Proceeding with the manufacture of cigarettes pursuant to my invention I first provide a suitable strip of paper 1 and lay thereupon the tobacco strips or leaves 2. Preferably the paper 1 is narrower than the tobacco strips but the two may be of equal width if found desirable. The purpose of having the paper strip narrower than the tobacco leaf is to provide longitudinal pasting edges or flaps 3 by means of which the wrapper may be closed down upon and secured about the filler by the use of a suitable adhesive substance. 'To hold the leaves upon the paper strip I find it advantageous to apply paste or the like 4 at the edges of the paper upon which the leaves rest. The wrapper necessity of making the cigarettes singly, as now done, and enabling the cigarettes to be produced by the j when thus formed of a series of leaves reinforced by a length of paper has sufficient strength to be wound upon a reel and may be drawn taut, in order to give the cigarettes the desired smooth appearance.

While it is preferable to join the tobacco leaves together at the ends before or after placing them upon the paper length, it is not absolutely necessary that this be done, because the paper serves as a support for the leaves and prevents their displacement when they are closed about the filler.

When the wrapper has been prepared as above described and appears as illustrated in Fig. 4, the filler is laid directly upon the paper, which is preferably of the color of the leaf, and the wrapper is then closed about the filler and the edges 3 pasted down. A long cig- 'arette thus results which may be cut into the desired lengths. The paper strip lying next the tobacco wrapper closes any breaks or perforations in the latter and therefore it is necessary to roll the wrapper about the filler but once, leaving slight extensions which serve as the pasting edges where the jointure is made.

As a result of making the cigarettes by the continuous method, instead of singly as heretofore, I greatly increase the number of cigarettes which may be made within a determined space of time, thus effecting a decided saving in time and labor. It is also obvious that a saving of wrapper is effected, inasmuch as I prevent the waste of cutting off the ends of the Wrapper and also roll the wrapper about the filler but once. I do not need to make a bunch when proceeding according to my invention, thus further reducing the cost, and the cigarettes when made as herein suggested have a smooth and finished appearance.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The herein described method of manufacturing cigarettes with tobacco wrappers, consisting in placing a reinforcement of paper between the filler and a wrapper composed of adjacently arranged sections of tobacco leaf, said paper reinforcement being of less width than said tobacco wrapper, substantially as described.

2. The herein described method of manufacturing cigarettes with tobacco wrappers, consisting in placing adjacent a tobacco wrapper composed of adjacently arranged sections of tobacco'leaf a reinforcement of paper of less width than the tobacco wrapper and applying an adhesive substance between the tobacco wrapper and paper reinforcement, substantially as described.

3. The herein described method of manufacturing cigarettes having tobacco wrappers, consisting in placing a number of tobacco leaves upon a paper length to form a wrapper, and thereafter inclosing said wrapper about a filler, substantially as described.

4. The herein described method of manufacturing ciga rettes having tobacco wrappers, consisting in placing a number of tobacco leaves upon a length of paper, applying adhesive material between the tobacco leaves and paper, and thereafter inclosing the wrapper thus formed about a filler, substantially as described.

5. The herein described method of manufacturing cigarettes having tobacco wrappers, consisting in joining a number of tobacco leaves end to end and placing the same upon a paper length to form a wrapper, and inclosing said wrapper about a filler, substantially as described.

6. The herein described method of manufacturing cigarettes having tobacco wrappers, consisting in joining a number of tobacco leaves end to end, placing the same upon a paper length to which adhesive material is applied, inclosing the wrapper thus formed about a filler to produce a long cigarette and cutting the long cigarette into desired lengths, substantially as described.

7. The herein described method of manufacturing cigarettes having tobacco wrappers, consisting in joining a number of strips of tobacco end to end, placing the same upon a paper length to which adhesive material is applied, inclosing the wrapper thus for-med about a filler to produce a long cigarette and cutting the long cigarette into desired lengths, substantially as described.

8. As an improvement in the art of manufacturing cigarettes having tobacco wrappers, consisting in forming the wrapper by joining a number of tobacco leaves end to end, and associating a paper length with said leaves in such manner that the paper length will be short of the longitu dinal edges of the tobacco leaves, thus obtaining a pasting edge at each side of said tobacco leaves, substantially as described.

0. As a new article of manufacture, a cigarette having a tobacco wrapper composed of adjacently arranged secsections to one another to provide a strip of the length of a plurality of cigarettes of commercial size, superimposing a continuous strip of paper upon said strip and securing the same thereto, placing upon the Composite strip and on the paper face thereof the cigarette filling, rolling the composite strip thereabout to for-in a rod and finally dividing the rod into cigarettes of commercial lengths.

In testimony presence of two whereof I have afiixed my signature in witnesses.

GEORGE P. BUTLER.

Witnesses CLARISSA FRANCK, OTTO MUNK. 

